Lessons learned in opener

The Washington Huskies opened their men’s basketball season with a 91-74 win over Georgia State on Saturday at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

Coach Lorenzo Romar seemed to especially value the game as another learning opportunity on his team’s long journey to March.

“This has been a very good beginning of the year in terms of the competition that we’ve faced,” Romar said. “Not only was Georgia State very up-tempo in how they approached things, but they changed defenses. … I felt at this stage of the game, teams are not usually ready for those types of changing defenses, but I thought we did a good job.”

The proof is in the numbers – the Huskies shot 51.6 percent, posted a 44-36 rebounding advantage, and had 15 assists compared to 12 turnovers.

Washington opened with an all-veteran lineup of senior Darnell Gant, juniors Abdul Gaddy and Aziz N’Diaye, and sophomores Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox.

Gant provided the early energy, scoring 10 of Washington’s first 13 points. Wilcox came on later to lead all scorers with 22 points, including five 3-pointers. N’Diaye led UW with eight rebounds and swatted five of his team’s six blocked shots.

“The key to their basketball team is that point guard (Gaddy) controls everything,” Georgia State coach Ron Hunter said. “When he plays well, they’re going to be hard to beat. That kid’s really good. You can see the glitter with the other guys, but that point guard, he’s special.”

The first Husky off the bench was heralded freshman Tony Wroten. In his college debut, the point guard from Seattle’s Garfield High School had 18 points, seven rebounds, four turnovers, three assists and a steal.

“I think I played well – not perfect,” Wroten said. “I can do better. I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to help my team win.”

Another newcomer, 6-foot-8 forward Martin Breunig, played 10 minutes. Romar said he had earned his way into the rotation.

The undersized visitors stuck around as long as their outside shooting touch lasted. That was about 12 minutes, when the game was tied for the last time and GSU guard Rashaad Richardson was knocking down 3-pointers. Though he cooled in the second half when guarded by Wilcox, Richardson led Georgia State (0-1) with 21 points, all on 3-pointers.

“We were doing a poor job of keeping them out of the middle … ,” Gant said. “Every time they drove through the middle, they seemed to get a wide-open shot and we had to shut that down real quick. And after that, we came out with a better sense of urgency and we took it away.”

Washington’s lead eventually reached 26 points, which allowed Romar to reach deep into roster as Hikeem Stewart, Shawn Kemp Jr. and even walk-on forward Alex Wegner made their college debuts.

However, 6-10 freshman Jernard Jarreau remained on the bench. And after the game, Romar revealed that Jarreau will redshirt this season while trying to gain weight and strength.

“Jernard and I talked, and before the game he decided he was going to redshirt,” Romar said. “He understands that he has some talent and … (wants to) come out here (next season) with a fresh start.”

The World Vision Classic opened Saturday morning with Portland defeating Florida Atlantic, 70-65.

The round-robin continues today with Georgia State meeting Portland at 2:30 p.m. and the Huskies facing Florida Atlantic at 5 p.m.

Don Ruiz: 253-597-8808 don.ruiz@thenewstribune.com twitter/donruiztnt blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports